Coyote's Coffee Den to close this week

Drop in sales hurt family businesss; Penrose location to remain open

Coyote's Coffee Den will close its doors this week in Creekside Mall (Charlotte Burrous/Daily Record)

After a run of more than eight years, Coyote's Coffee Den will turn the coffee pot off for the last time in Creekside Mall.

"This is our last week here," said Pete Mugasis who co-owns the coffee shop in the Creekside Mall with his wife, Rhea. "We felt we were moving along at a pretty good pace. Many times, it takes four or five years for a restaurant to be profitable."

When they moved into Creekside Mall in 2004, the couple knew how much the expenses were going to be, but at the time the Four Mile Ranch was in the beginning stages. The family figured the center of town had moved to that area. But when it didn't take off as planned, the lack of people living in the area hurt the couple's business.

But they perservered, and in 2008, the couple said they felt like they were getting there.

"(However), in 2009, the economy went way south," Mugasis said. "Sales really (went down). Had that neighborhood been there, we would probably be doing much better, but they weren't there. They never got there."

But he said the first thing they say to do on TV is to stop buying that cup of latte.

"Maybe they convinced people that was the way to fix their personal budgets," Mugasis said. "In all seriousness, I think people cut down a lot of discretionary spending."

After the downturn in the economy, some of the customers only stopped once or twice a week.

Advertisement

"There were a number of people who maintained their habit and God bless them," Mugasis said. "And God bless the ones who came in as often as they could, but the bottom line is our sales dropped a lot."

During the past eight years, the shop employed 12 individuals. Some of them will move to the Penrose location while another one will go to the shop at the St. Thomas More Hospital, but the others have lost their job, Mugasis said.

"Over the last couple of years as the economy struggled, it's been very stressful on me and my family," he said. "(We'll try to) improve the quality time we have together."

In fact, when they first opened the coffee shop in Penrose, Mugasis kept his job in Colorado Springs. When the couple opened the shop in Creekside Mall, he quit his job to help Rhea with the Cañon City coffee shop.

At the moment, he is not sure what they will do next, but they will keep the coffee shop open in Penrose.

"At this point, we're going to let the dust settle," Mugasis said. "We're going to regroup a little bit. It's definitely one of those bittersweet moments. We're had some incredible customers who come through with tears streaming down their cheeks, sad because we felt the connection. They can get a cup of coffee anyplace."

He said they appreciated the support for their customers.

"I like to take the opportunity to thank everybody," Mugasis said. "Rhea and I are so grateful to the people supporting us. People know who they are. They're special. We certainly hope to see those guys out in Penrose and the hospital."